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Going outside to smelt upwards of 200lbs of wheel weights.


Mr. Black
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Ugh, that’s a dirty, tedious job. 

I don’t find it worth my time to cast my own boolits at the volume I’m reloading these days. 

However, I still cast my own shakey head bass jigs for about 8 cents a piece, and that’s with a decent quality hook. 

Compared to the $1 a piece or more retail price it’s worth it for my go to bass exploratory bait. If they won’t hit a shakey head, they’re not down there. I lose a lot of them, but you can tell a lot o about the underwater structure and bottom composition with a quick shakey head exploration. 

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Well all things considered this batch went fairly quickly.  Made 191 ingots until my rusty POS propane tank ran bone dry finally so I could just chuck it in the dumpster.  Got that tank for free from a buddy at work that was moving and nobody would fill it anymore.   Half full of propane it was.    Got a fresh tank from the old ladies heaters she uses for her business in the winter time to finish this job up tomorrow.  :)   shushhhhh don't tell her.  

 

 

 

 

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3 hours ago, Boogieman said:

Where did you score 200 lbs worth?  I'm having a lot of trouble since democrats decided that wheel weights caused global warming...or something...because reasons.

My old man always scores us 2-3 buckets worth out of a couple AZ desert tire shops that he visits through the winter.   

We did have a dry spell for a while and I was buying 50lb boxes off Ebay from a dude out of Michigan that I think was getting them from tire shops and wrecking yards there.  

3 hours ago, crockett said:

Cringy Wally World parking lot creatures!

LMAO

1 hour ago, Collim1 said:

Ugh, that’s a dirty, tedious job. 

I don’t find it worth my time to cast my own boolits at the volume I’m reloading these days. 

However, I still cast my own shakey head bass jigs for about 8 cents a piece, and that’s with a decent quality hook. 

Compared to the $1 a piece or more retail price it’s worth it for my go to bass exploratory bait. If they won’t hit a shakey head, they’re not down there. I lose a lot of them, but you can tell a lot o about the underwater structure and bottom composition with a quick shakey head exploration. 

I think what you call shakey head we call football heads out this way.  :)

 

I generally would agree on smelting and casting.   and honestly I'm am usually sitting on 5k or so rounds of hi tek coated bullets for our 9mm and 40S&W competition ammo that we use for speed steel.  

 

We have used my cast powder coated stuff for fun though during speed steel matches.   The old lady gets lots of compliments on her pink bullets that look like lipstick tubes.  

Edited by Mr. Black
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56 minutes ago, Mr. Black said:

I think what you call shakey head we call football heads out this way.  :)

Somewhat of a hybrid. It’s a technique that’s been around a while, and originated in football heads, but now there are shakey head specific heads out there. 

I typically cast 1/4oz heads, so much lighter than your typical football head. I cast mine on light spinning tackle and 10-12lb line. It’s more of a finesse presentation than a heavier traditional jig. 

If you bass fish it’s worth a try. It’s very versatile. I use a motor oil/chartreuse Zoom trick worm. 

 

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Ahh that's pretty cool.     My FIL is a tournament bass fisher.   I go fun fishing with him on occasion but I've never really gotten into the bass thing. I use a lot of football heads and have used drop shot before.  

Generally  I prefer eatin fish.   Trout, steelhead, and some salmon.  

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On ‎8‎/‎25‎/‎2018 at 7:05 PM, Mr. Black said:

Well all things considered this batch went fairly quickly.  Made 191 ingots until my rusty POS propane tank ran bone dry finally so I could just chuck it in the dumpster.  Got that tank for free from a buddy at work that was moving and nobody would fill it anymore.   Half full of propane it was.    Got a fresh tank from the old ladies heaters she uses for her business in the winter time to finish this job up tomorrow.  :)   shushhhhh don't tell her.  

 

 

 

 

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Nice looking ingots.

Mine are from a muffin tin, not nearly as pretty.  And my lead is reclaimed bullets from the backstop at our range and the debris from the plate racks. 

 

011.JPG

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 8/25/2018 at 7:05 PM, Mr. Black said:

Well all things considered this batch went fairly quickly.  Made 191 ingots until my rusty POS propane tank ran bone dry finally so I could just chuck it in the dumpster.  Got that tank for free from a buddy at work that was moving and nobody would fill it anymore.   Half full of propane it was.    Got a fresh tank from the old ladies heaters she uses for her business in the winter time to finish this job up tomorrow.  :)   shushhhhh don't tell her.  

 

 

 

 

20180825_103737_resized.jpg

20180825_143732_resized.jpg

Wow...how many bullets do you expect to make from all of that?

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On ‎8‎/‎25‎/‎2018 at 7:05 PM, Mr. Black said:

Well all things considered this batch went fairly quickly.  Made 191 ingots until my rusty POS propane tank ran bone dry finally so I could just chuck it in the dumpster.  Got that tank for free from a buddy at work that was moving and nobody would fill it anymore.   Half full of propane it was.    Got a fresh tank from the old ladies heaters she uses for her business in the winter time to finish this job up tomorrow.  :)   shushhhhh don't tell her.  

 

 

 

 

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You do good work.  That should keep you going for a while.

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5 hours ago, BadAndy said:

Wow...how many bullets do you expect to make from all of that?

 

Thanks fellas.  

 

Andy, I'll attach a current picture from that weekend.    All told ended up with 334 ingots all approximately 1lb ea.        I still have a full 5 gallon bucket of wheel weights to go.  It's going to be near 400 pounds of usable lead from the last haul.    

So 9mm 115g projectiles would equal 20300 bullets from that 334 bars.   

45ACP 225g wold equal 10390 bullets.   

 

 

20180826_141656_resized.jpg

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On 8/26/2018 at 4:58 PM, norton said:

Nice looking ingots.

Mine are from a muffin tin, not nearly as pretty.  And my lead is reclaimed bullets from the backstop at our range and the debris from the plate racks. 

 

011.JPG

I have been using muffin pan mold for our pure lead only.  Easy way to identify what we are working with.   

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29 minutes ago, Mr. Black said:

 

Thanks fellas.  

 

Andy, I'll attach a current picture from that weekend.    All told ended up with 334 ingots all approximately 1lb ea.        I still have a full 5 gallon bucket of wheel weights to go.  It's going to be near 400 pounds of usable lead from the last haul.    

So 9mm 115g projectiles would equal 20300 bullets from that 334 bars.   

45ACP 225g wold equal 10390 bullets.   

 

 

20180826_141656_resized.jpg

You've done well Mr. B. I couldn't get onto the website from where I was down in SoKal for most of Aug. but I could - I would've asked if you had a buddy working at Les Schwab.  :)   I don't shoot much solid lead but respect the hell out of you guys who manufacture your own bullets. I do reload but I take the easy way out.  LOL...  

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17 minutes ago, MikeG36 said:

You've done well Mr. B. I couldn't get onto the website from where I was down in SoKal for most of Aug. but I could - I would've asked if you had a buddy working at Les Schwab.  :)   I don't shoot much solid lead but respect the hell out of you guys who manufacture your own bullets. I do reload but I take the easy way out.  LOL...  

I even take it one step further and Powder Coat all of my cast bullets eating up even more of my time lol.  

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3 hours ago, BadAndy said:

Very nice sir!!!

I was curious when I saw elsewhere that they can powder coat them. What kind of set up do you have for that and how does that work for such small objects? I've only seen wheels and other metal car parts get powder coated.

I do mine with the “ Shake and Bake “ method. Roll them around in a plastic container with black air soft BB’s until coated. Place on a silicone baking mat with forceps with some space in between. Bake at recommended temp/ time, about 150 at a time.

 

Used to use an electrostatic spray gun from HF, but this is easier and less messy.

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17 hours ago, willie-pete said:

I do mine with the “ Shake and Bake “ method. Roll them around in a plastic container with black air soft BB’s until coated. Place on a silicone baking mat with forceps with some space in between. Bake at recommended temp/ time, about 150 at a time.

 

Used to use an electrostatic spray gun from HF, but this is easier and less messy.

Nice! Sounds like a pretty cool process. How does the powder coating hold up? Is it better for lower velocities or can it handle higher without coming apart and leaving a lot of lead behind?

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11 minutes ago, BadAndy said:

Nice! Sounds like a pretty cool process. How does the powder coating hold up? Is it better for lower velocities or can it handle higher without coming apart and leaving a lot of lead behind?

I've shot them in a .22TCM; about 2000 fps; no issues noted. i make the brass out of 5.56

22tcm1_1.thumb.jpg.e51016aaf068f7c52fb79bd1ce28c746.jpg

 

 

 

Lots of good info here:

 

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/forumdisplay.php?184-Coatings-and-Alternatives

 

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Like Willie Peete, I use the shake and bake method.  I find heating the bullets to 150 degrees for 5 minutes before applying the coat helps the powder stick.  I use a Folgers Red instant coffee plastic container, drop the bullets (100) in the plastic and put in about a teaspoon of Harbor Freight powder.  Red seems to work better then any other HF color for me.  I shake the container for about 5 seconds, then add about the same amount of powder again.  I repeat this-usually about 5 times-then use a pair of hemostats to pick up the bullets, set them on a tray lined with stick free aluminum foil.  Bake for 20 minutes at 400 degrees, then allow them to cool. 

 

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